Baltimore Ecosystem Study (Image 2)

Baltimore Ecosystem Study (Image 2) Jack Stevens of the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, explains Urban Forest Effects Model (UFORE) data collection procedures to field crews from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES), the National Park Service, and from Washington, D.C. BES scientists collect data across a range of land uses that occur in the city of Baltimore, including residential neighborhoods. There are 200 UFORE plots in the city that provide long-term data on tree, shrub and herbaceous vegetation strata. BES is a long-term ecological research project funded by the National Science Foundation (under grant 98-41771) and the Environmental Protection Agency. The purpose of the program is to learn how an urban area works as an ecological system. Specifically, scientists want to know the ecological interactions in the whole range of habitats, from the center city of Baltimore, out into the surrounding rural areas. BES participants are conducting research on the soil, plants and animals--on the land and in streams, the water quality, and the condition of the air in and around Baltimore. For this information to make sense, scientists must also study how families, associations, organizations and political bodies make decisions that affect ecological processes. In other words, we are treating the whole collection of urban, suburban and rural areas as an ecological system that includes people and their activities. (Date of Image: June 2004) [See Related Image.]